Stop looking for Rondo’s name. He didn’t make the top 10. The 123,104 people who voted for Luke Ridnour should never be allowed to watch an NBA game again.* The Chinese are clearly under government order to stuff the ballot boxes for Yi Jianlian.

And who are the idiots voting for Allen Iverson? The biggest crime may be that Chris Bosh has 120,00 more votes than Paul Pierce. Did anybody watch the Finals? Holy crap…NBA fans are dumb.

“I didn’t think anybody played poorly,” he said before pivoting. “Well, actually I did. I thought Baby (Glen Davis) played poorly, honestly. I thought he turned the ball over, was going too fast, didn’t set a lot of picks. So he’s got to have a better (stretch) from this point to the start of the season than he has from this point since the start of training camp.”

Davis’ line: 6 pts, 2-5 FG, 3 Reb, 5 TOs in 19 minutes. As Scott Souza states in the above article, Doc is using the media to kick Big Baby in the ass. You won’t find any objections here. I just hope Davis reacts the right way…and doesn’t start sulking.

I’ll tell you one thing, I’m a lot healthier this season. A lot of people don’t know this, but I wasn’t 100 percent for most of last season. Before the season, I had a bone bruise in my left knee, and that was an issue for most of the year. I give Doc [Rivers] a lot of credit [for making sure it didn’t become a worse problem.] It didn’t heal until April, the playoffs, and then I hurt my right knee in the finals . . . [So I feel much healthier now.]

Tommy Heinsohn is adding to his “homer” reputation. He’s only working Celtics home games this year. Donny Marshall gets the call on the road for Comcast.

For those headed to the D&D Center in Providence to catch the Celtics-Cavs, you won’t see Kendrick Perkins, Sam Cassell or Sasha Pavlovic.

The man who outcoached and embarassed the legendary Phil Jackson in the NBA Finals will be with the Celtics for the next three seasons, according to Yahoo Sports.

After winning the NBA championship, Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics have reached agreement on a contract extension through the 2010-2011 season, a league source familiar with the deal told Yahoo! Sports. The contract has not been signed, but Celtics officials and Rivers’ agent, Lonnie Cooper, are in the process of finishing up the paperwork, the source said.

When reached by text message later Tuesday, Rivers confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that he had recently come to terms but didn’t want to make “a big deal about it.”

After an emotional year in which Rivers lost his father, Grady, in November, there had been some concern that he might consider leaving coaching for a return to television. With approximately $5.5 million a season in the new deal – and postseason incentive clauses that could drive his annual total to $7 million – to go with a chance to win more titles, Rivers never seriously considered walking away.

Doc’s no dummy. He’ll be around as long as Paul Pierce and KG are wearing green. And since the extension is for just two years, Doc will be able to cash in again when the Celtics win another title.

An unknown bidder purchased Doc Rivers’ Gatorade-stained shirt from Game 6 of the NBA Finals for $35,000 Tuesday.

The announcement was made during WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan Show” when bidding for the coveted shirt closed.

The money goes to the Celtics Shamrock Foundation. Steve Pagliuca will kick in another $35,000 if Mr. Anonymous would let the Celtics put the shirt on public display. Gatorade will kick in another $10,000. That all equals $80 grand for the kids. Nicely done Paul.

In other news:

Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo will be invited to the Team USA camp in late July to practice against Team USA.

With a good showing, Perkins, 23, and Rondo, 22, could be considered for the 2010 World Championships in Turkey and the 2012 Olympics in London. “It would be an honor to play against them,” said Perkins. “I would love to play against them and hope to play for them one day. It’s an honor. It will be fun.”

Perk also said his shoulder is getting much better.

There’s an effort to bring back the name “Boston Garden” to our home building…. rather than calling it “TD Banknorth Garden.” If you are so inclined, here’s how its being proposed. Personally, I’m happy TD Banknorth called it “The Garden.” I don’t have a problem with naming rights being sold. However, I know all fans don’t feel that way…. so feel free to do what you have to do.

Andthe hot trade rumor that would make things a little more interesting in the Atlantic Division: TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, another player and maybe the 17th pick to Indiana for Jermaine O’Neal. So that would give Toronto a Chris Bosh, O’Neal and Jose Calderon trifecta… which would be pretty good. Mark me down as rooting against that trade.

This is the second piece in our continued look back at the Boston Celtics championship season… in an effort to truly appreciate the efforts of those involved.

Doc Rivers is a nice guy. And even that was fodder for criticism around here.

The way people told it, the media was too easy on Mr. Nice Guy to truly rip in to him for his transgressions. You name it, Doc was blamed for it. It went beyond rotations and play calling. At his lowest point, Doc was practically blamed for the turbulence on team flights.

But Doc sat there and took it. Because that’s what a coach does. The coaching fraternity lives by a motto that is practically tattooed onto their foreheads before the whistle goes around their necks: None of the credit, all of the blame.

So Doc smiled and took it.

Even when the players were too young and impetuous to be as professional as a veteran NBA man wanted them to be.

I’ll admit it, I’m secretly hoping the Celtics lose Game 5 on Sunday, come back to Boston for Game 6 and win the title at the Garden. But for Doc Rivers, Sunday will be extra emotional because it’s Father’s Day. His Dad – Grady Rivers – died from cancer in November. During yesterday’s media session Doc fought back the tearswhen questioned about his father.

“To go back to my dad, he’s just very important in my life,” Rivers said. “It’s still very difficult for me to talk about because I haven’t had a lot of time, really, to reflect on it. You know, it happened during the season unexpectedly. It’s very, very difficult. But I do think about it. I think about it a lot.”

It’s obvious Doc would like nothing more than to win this thing Sunday in Grady’s honor. This team is full of new fathers – Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Leon Powe – who now more than ever understand the parent/child bond and could use Doc’s situation as extra motivation.

Moving on from the sappy stuff, the Celtics’ health is the talk of the series now. This team will play its 107th game on Sunday night, tying an NBA record. I’m convinced Perk separated his shoulder Thursday night, but he’s crazy enough to throw on a brace and play in Game 5. We’re told Pierce tweaked his knee and rolled an ankle in Game 4. Rondo’s bone bruise should be better, especially since he saw limited minutes Thursday and has the 2 1/2 days of rest.

Chuck took it hard from the Lakers fans… and even some Celtics fans…. when he suggested the coaching matchup in this series was even.

In game 1… Chuck was clearly wrong… because Doc Rivers out-coached Phil Jackson. And before the Lakers fans go nuts here… I’m not the only one who thinks so. Just ask Dr. Jack Ramsay:

Every move Doc Rivers made from the bench paid dividends for the Celtics. To start the game Rivers matched Kevin Garnett against Pau Gasol, but when Garnett picked up his first foul, he switched Kendrick Perkinsto Gasol and Garnett to Lamar Odom. The Lakers never went to Gasol with any consistency and Odom was not really an offensive threat, especially in the first half.

To start the third period, with his team trailing 51-46, Rivers ordered a set play for Pierce, who at that point was 1-for-4. Pierce scored from the low post and then nailed two 3s and two free throws in an eight-point run that allowed the Celtics to regain the lead.

So give Rivers the coaching nod over the veteran nine-ring wearer Phil Jackson … at least for Game 1.

Dr. Jack fails to mention the worst decision of the entire game: the lack of a foul on the C’s… who took the clock from :53 down to :27 in an 8 point game. Even one missed free throw makes it a 3 possession game with about :50 to go. You mean to tell me the Lakers didn’t think they could hit a few 3’s in the last minute? Mind boggling decision. Everyone in the building was expecting a foul.

I said this in our forums… and I’ll repeat it here. If Doc Rivers didn’t foul in that situation, it would be topic #1 today… and all the storylines would be about Phil being the Zen Master.

It’s only game 1… but the vaunted coaching edge that the Lakers supposedly enjoy was nowhere to be seen last night.

“I like what we’ve done,” he said. “I coach the way I coach. I’ve always laughed at some of the criticism. I was joking with someone the other day, and I said, ‘Answer me this. Why would someone listen to a guy that hasn’t played, he hasn’t coached . . . some of the guys have never even been reporters, they’re bloggers, and not listen to a guy and his whole staff who have played and coached? Now who’s the fool? Me, or the people listening to them?’ ”

I wonder if Doc is referring at all to Red’s Army? We don’t get on him nearly as much as other blogs do… but we share our opinion. If it helps at all, Doc, I don’t fall into that “hasn’t played, he hasn’t coached . . . some of the guys have never even been reporters” category. I’ll just leave it at that.

The Celtics seemed lifeless out there at times last night. Part of it was the Pistons defense… part of it was a flat out lack of energy and execution. And while I understand that Sam Cassell’s experience allows him to handle the pressure well… We really could have used Eddie House’s energy for a few minutes.

I fully understand the reasons for not playing Eddie against the Pistons. Chauncey Billups, Rodney Stuckey and Lindsay Hunter could make things difficult for Eddie. But what Eddie can do is be a caffeine jolt to a lifeless team. How about cutting Ray Allen’s minutes down from 35 to 30… and Sam’s minutes down from 17 to 12. There’s 10 minutes right there where Eddie could help force the issue and maybe wake a couple of guys up.

You guys know me… I think Doc gets unfairly criticized for a lot of things… but you’ve got to see that your guys are struggling to find a spark. You’ve got a spark plug guy in Eddie House just sitting there… why not give him a few minutes to see if he can help? Could things have gotten any worse?